1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and device for ionizing fluid such as water. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for effecting ionization by employing the electric energy flowing in such fluid, and a device therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, those skilled in the art have known well that ionized fluid such as ionized water provides various effects. For example in a steel water pipe system, a scale mainly consisting of ferric oxide is deposited on the inner wall of the steel pipe, thereby reducing the inner diameter resulting in a reduced flow rate and pressure. It is well known that ionized water is used to remove the scale. When ionized water flows through the pipe, the oxide scale deposited on the inner wall is changed into a soft hydroxide (ferric hydroxide) which is removed gradually.
Also, it is well known that ionized water provides a cleaning effect. As a brief explanation of this cleaning effect, soap forms a colloidal solution in water, and is in fact an electrolyte, and becomes strongly ionized and there is a separation of the minus and plus ions. In the case of oils such as body oils and other forms of oily substances, the difficulty of washing or removing these oils is due to the strong surface tension which they exhibit, and this strong surface tension is the result of strong internal charge bonding between the molecules. When a soap solution is added to this oil, the ionized soap solution breaks the surface tension of the oil solution. The ionic charge of the soap solution is stronger than the internal charge between the oil molecules. This causes the oily substances to be easily absorbed and carried away by the water. Accordingly, an ionized solution such as water wherein the minus and plus ion charges are generated can provide a similar cleaning effect to that of soap solution on oily substances.
In order to improve agricultural growth, the addition of the ionizing compounds and materials to the soil has been well known and commonly carried out plant food and with ionizing pellets added to the soil. Ionized water can increase the ionic concentration of the soil as compared to the pellets, and it can be more easily absorbed by plants.
The method and device effecting the ionization of fluids by using the electric energy flowing in a fluid and by employing a very strong magnetic field is well known. Specifically, water flowing in a magnetic field is ionized according to the principle of electromagnetic induction, i.e. when a conductor is caused to move in a magnetic field a flow of electric energy is induced in the conductor. However, this method and device require the fluid to move in the magnetic field to effect the ionization of the fluid. The degree of ionization directly depends on the flow rate of the fluid. When a magnet is arranged on a reservoir or the like, the water of such a reservoir is not moved and its ionization is kept at a remarkably low degree. On the contrary, when a magnet is used in a water pipe to ionize the water flowing therethrough, magnetic particles such as ferric particles in the pipeline are attracted and deposited around the magnet. This deposit causes a reduction in the available internal space. Further, the magnet type device requires a high density magnetic flux, and therefore such a device is very expensive.